The present invention relates generally to lasers and in particular to controlling fiber coupling between an array of lasers and an optical output.
Fiber coupling is often an essential but costly step in packaging various waveguide devices for telecommunication applications. On account of the very small optical modes in single mode waveguide devices, very tight submicron tolerances are often required in the packaging.
Generally, the devices are actively aligned. For example to fiber couple a telecommunication laser, the device is activated, and the optical power coupled to the fiber is monitored as the positions of the various optical elements in the package are varied. When the coupling is maximized, the optical elements are permanently fixed in position. The process is time consuming, costly, and often not very reproducible due to contraction in epoxies or thermal expansion of the components.
Furthermore, all the components in the package should be made absolutely immobile for the above procedure to maintain effectiveness over time. Any change in the position of the elements decreases the optical coupling. This makes hybrid integration of components with varying expansion coefficients very difficult. For example, to package a laser with a lithium niobate modulator, the laser uses hard solder for thermal heatsinking, while the modulator uses a soft epoxy that does not stress the crystal. The relative position of these devices will vary in the package due to the mismatch in the materials. Similarly, solders and epoxies tend to cause stress in the fiber, which affects yield and reliability and can cause birefringence in the fiber that influences the polarization of light in the core.